


The Arkham Knight

by writemydreams



Series: JayDick Week 2017 [5]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Arkham Verse, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 22:04:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13257525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writemydreams/pseuds/writemydreams
Summary: A belated entry for Day 5 of JayDick Week 2017: Arkham Knight.The Arkham Knight crashes Dick's crackdown on Penguin and his weapons shipment. He pursues Dick to the rooftops and reveals more than just his motives.





	The Arkham Knight

**Author's Note:**

> I'd hoped to have this done before the end of 2017. Between a cold, a draining work schedule, and some writer's block I couldn't manage. I'll at least start 2018 out with a bang! 
> 
> Goal for the year already: get better at writing fight scenes.

“This is the last time that damned Nightwing interferes with me and my business!” Penguin snarled. “He’s always swinging in and stopping my weapons shipments, invading my club, and getting in my damn way!” He banged the tip of his umbrella on the floor to punctuate his angry tirade. “Well no more! Cruise, wake him up!”

Dick was already conscious. He had been ever since Penguin’s complaints began. His ranting and raving covered all sounds of Dick freeing himself from the ropes. He kept his hands behind his back to maintain the façade of being tied up. “No need for that.” Dick raised his head to grin at Penguin. “Your screeching woke me. What’s the matter, Cobblepot, woke up on the wrong side of the nest?” 

A tall blond in an ill-fitting suit cuffed the side of his head. “Shut up,” he snarled. Cruise predictably.

Penguin pointed his umbrella at Dick. “My voice is the last thing you’ll ever hear again, Nightwing. I need to decide the best way to make you suffer before I kill you.” He turned to face his men. “Lads? Got any suggestions?” 

“Shock him with his sticks!”

“Throw him to the sharks.”

“Tie him up and leave him for Killer Croc!”

Suggestions continued to ring out while Dick untied his ankles. Batman’s extensive rogues gallery should know better than to tie any of them up. They always escaped. “Listening to all of you is torture enough.” He flipped over the back of the chair then grabbed it, swinging it at Cruise and striking him hard. The man went down with a grunt. Dick dove behind a stack of crates to avoid the rain of bullets. The crates wouldn’t protect him for long. Closing his eyes, he tossed a flash grenade over his shoulder. 

“My eyes!” 

“I can’t see Nightwing!”

“GET HIM!” Penguin roared. 

Dick poked his head around the crates. Most of the men were rubbing their eyes, swearing, or fumbling for weapons. He noticed his escrima sticks atop a chair near Penguin. Retrieving them was a risk he’d have to take. Dick drew a smoke bomb out of his utility belt and threw it at Penguin’s feet. Smoke quickly filled the room. Dick leapt out from behind the crates and took out the nearest thug with a kick. He used the confusion to his advantage to bring down as many thugs as he could. Reaching the crate, Dick snatched up the escrima sticks. He activated them and drove the base into the nearest thug’s stomach, striking another with the second. Ah, shrieking goons. Music to his ears. 

Two bullets whizzed past his head to break the window behind him. Time to find another vantage point before the smoke cleared. Glass shattered across the room, catching his attention. Dick spared a glance in time to see the Arkham Knight enter the club. Shit. What was he doing here? Was he after Penguin or Nightwing? 

The Arkham Knight fired a warning shot into the air. “That’s enough!” He roared. “Nightwing is _mine_ to handle. I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way.” 

Dick ducked for cover. The Arkham Knight must be after all of Batman’s allies. That meant Tim and Barbara were in danger too. He needed to contact them once he got out of here. The Arkham Knight’s appearance meant it was time for a tactical retreat. 

“I’ve already laid claim to him, boy. Go back to Scarecrow,” Penguin snapped. 

Dick crept towards the nearest window. With any luck, the two would be too busy arguing to notice his exit. He vaulted out the window and crouched down to look inside. Penguin and the Arkham Knight continued to stare each other down. The smoke had cleared away, and Dick could see Penguin’s men moving to flank the Arkham Knight. He’d come alone, something Penguin would take as a challenge. 

The Arkham Knight let out an angry growl. “You would defy me?”

“Yeah, I would,” Penguin sneered. “What’ll you do about it? Run to your militia for help? Bet you—ulp.” He coughed, clutching at the Arkham Knight’s glove as he raised Penguin up off the ground by the throat. Penguin’s men stepped closer, hands flying to their weapons. No one made a move. No one risked doing so when the cost would be their boss’s life. 

The Arkham Knight drew Penguin closer. “You will shut your fat mouth if you know what’s any good for you.” He dropped Penguin and kicked him hard in the ribs, drawing a pained cry from the criminal. 

Dick grappled to the roof of the building before he could see more. Taking Penguin and his men down was so easy Dick could do it in his sleep. The Arkham Knight was a wildcard, one he didn’t feel comfortable taking on without more information. Dick holstered his grapple. Time to call Bruce. “B, we need to talk.”

“About what?” Bruce asked. Like Dick, he stood on one of Gotham’s many rooftops with the city laid out behind him like a painting. He looked tired standing there in his scraped armor. What hell had he been going through tonight? Damn Scarecrow. Halloween in Gotham was always rough for the vigilante community. He just had to make it worse.

Dick snapped back to attention. “The Arkham Knight. I don’t know how or why, but he tracked me to Penguin’s club. I’d been captured sabotaging the weapons shipment. They knocked me out. When I came to, I was tied to a chair surrounded by Penguin and his goons. The Arkham Knight arrived shortly after I got free. Penguin provoked him when he said he was there for me. Cobblepot’s lucky the Arkham Knight didn’t crush his throat.” Dick touched the collar of his suit. “I got out of there before either could lay a hand on me. Alert Robin and Oracle that the Arkham Knight may come after them too.”

Bruce frowned. “What did he say about you?” 

“He said ‘Nightwing is mine to handle’ and that he’d shoot anyone who went after me.” Dick looked down at the city, wondering what it was about Gotham that bred so much violence. “I’m going after Penguin again. I just wanted to—”

“Behind you!” Bruce warned.

Dick dodged the Arkham Knight’s punch. What the hell? He hadn’t sensed him coming at all! No one should be able to sneak up on him. Dick flipped away from the Arkham Knight to put distance between them. He drew his escrima sticks before his feet touched the ground. “Knight. What do you want with me?”

“Your privilege,” the Arkham Knight snapped. “You’re Batman’s precious first Robin. Dick Grayson, the Boy Wonder. He’d do anything to keep _you_ safe.”

Dick stiffened. “How do you know that name?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

“Tell me.” Dick and the Arkham Knight circled each other like predatory cats. Who was this man? How could he know so much about the family? 

The LED lights of his eyes glimmered as he studied Dick. “Fine, Grayson. I’ll tell you a story about a lost boy that Batman didn’t care about. This boy thought Batman loved him, that he cared. And then he abandoned him. Left him to die in the clutches of a madman. And he _replaced_ that boy with someone new, someone younger. Someone who stole his identity!” Snarling with anger, the Arkham Knight ripped the helmet from his head. “What makes you so fucking special that Bruce would move heaven and earth to find you when you go missing, but he didn’t give a damn about me?” 

Dick’s escrima sticks clattered to the ground as he stared at Jason in shock. _Jason Todd._ It couldn’t be him! This had to be a trick, something Clayface had done. He knew it wasn’t possible. Clayface could only look like Jason. He wouldn’t have the same knowledge. “You’re alive,” he breathed. 

“No thanks to you.” 

Dick bit his lip. It killed him to know that Jason was in league with Scarecrow. How could he be so overcome with hate that he’d aid a terrorist? “Jason, Bruce never abandoned you. Neither did I. We thought you were dead. The Joker had video footage of him killing you. I… I saw the video. I cried harder than I had in years when you fell off your chair and never get up. Even after your death, Bruce and I never stopped looking for you. We failed you in life, but we wanted a body to bring home.” He swallowed as he studied Jason. “You’re my brother. I never forgot about you.” How could the boy who used to idolize him now look at him with loathing? 

Jason sneered as he donned the helmet. “The Joker started the madness when he took me. Tell me the truth, _Dick._ Did Bruce wait a whole week out of respect for the dead or did he put Replacement in my uniform the next day?”

“It took months! Bruce didn’t _want_ to have another Robin after what happened to you. He blamed himself for your death. He’s never stopped. And neither have I,” he confessed. 

“Stop trying to make this about you,” Jason snarled. 

Dick reached for his escrima sticks. This Jason wasn’t the boy he helped train, fought alongside, and grew to love. He was in there somewhere, buried beneath pain and anger. Dick wouldn’t be able to bring that side of Jason up to the surface until Gotham was safe from Scarecrow. “I’m sorry you hate us so much, Jason. I’m sorry we were wrong. If Bruce or I had known, we would have turned over every damn stone in Gotham to find you and bring you home. Please believe me.”

“You’re lying! Stop _talking_ and fight me. The old man will break once you’re out of the picture. Then I’ll go after the Replacement.” Jason lunged at Dick. He was fast, strong, and moved with deadly efficiency. Wherever Jason had been during his “death” he’d learned to become a better fighter. 

Dick blocked Jason’s blows. “Why are you working with Scarecrow?” 

“As if you care,” Jason spat. He broke through Dick’s guard to deliver a vicious punch to his ribs. It hurt, but he’d had worse. Nothing felt cracked or broken at least.

“Of course I care. Is Scarecrow threatening you? Did he promise you revenge on Bruce in exchange for helping him?” Dick continued to evade or block while he spoke. He’d remain on the defensive while he pumped Jason for information.

Jason scoffed. “That pathetic rag bag has no power over me. We’re working _together_ to claim Gotham City.” 

Dick danced back to evade a powerful kick. Jason reminded him of a powder keg. Light a spark and he’d blow. Dick was an expert in annoying his opponents with his chatter. _Apologies for this, Jason. You’re not yourself… and I need you out of my way._ “What happens if you win? You and Scarecrow rule Gotham together? Ew, are you two dating? Please tell me you don’t kiss that ugly face.” 

“I told you to shut up!”

Dick drove an escrima stick into Jason’s thigh. He grunted from the electric jolt and stumbled back. Dick took his chance when Jason’s leg buckled beneath him. He struck Jason hard enough to crack the LED display on the helmet. He caught him when he fell, lowering his unconscious body to the ground. “I’m sorry,” Dick apologized. He pulled off the Arkham Knight helmet to trace the brand on Jason’s cheek. What horrors had he endured? “I promise I’ll help you. I’ll do whatever I can to bring you back.” He stroked Jason’s hair then rolled him over onto his stomach. He ziptied his wrists and ankles to keep him secure. His com pinged during his body search of additional weapons. “Nightwing here.”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m not hurt. Bruce…” Dick trailed off, hearing the exhaustion in his voice. “I know who the Arkham Knight is. He’s knocked out and tied up now. We have to get him to the movie studio or the Cave.” There was no way Jason could go to GCPD. He ran his fingers through his hair, relieved their conversation was only audio right now. “Do you want to know who he is or wait?”

“…I have a theory.”

Dick closed his eyes. “It’s Jason. He’s alive and he hates us. He thinks we abandoned him to the Joker. I told him about the video, how we saw Joker kill him. He refused to believe me. If you can spare the time come here with the Batmobile or send Batwing to my location. Once Jason’s secure I’ll finish up with Penguin and his crew.” Finishing that case was the distraction he needed. Dick had to focus on Gotham, not his psychologically shattered brother turned criminal. 

“Batwing is on its way. I’ll let Tim know to prepare a cell for Jason and keep an eye out. Once Jason is inside, finish with Penguin. There are already too many weapons in Gotham.” Bruce hung up without waiting for a response. 

Dick shook his head. “Business as usual.” He sat down next to Jason so he could watch over him until Batwing arrived.


End file.
